


Gray Jedi's Path

by JustAWinterGuardian



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst, Clone Wars, Dazai trains Atsushi, Gen, Gray Jedi, Jedi Code, Jedi Temple, Jedi Training, Lightsabers, Makes sense without knowing Bungou Stray Dogs, Master!Dazai, Mostly Star Wars focused, Padawan!Atsushi, Takes place sometime during the Clone Wars, The ADA are Jedi, The Force, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-05-30 00:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15085505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAWinterGuardian/pseuds/JustAWinterGuardian
Summary: “The choice is yours, of course,” Dazai reminded. He looked completely serious now. “I can train you into a great Jedi.” His eyes darkened. “They told you that you’d never belong anywhere, didn’t they?” Atsushi flinched and seemed to curl in on himself at the mention. “I can sense it. The Jedi order is your place.” He looked at Atsushi’s hesitant eyes for a minute. “So, what do you choose?”Atsushi never had a place to belong, until he found a man trying to "become one with the Force." One thing led to another, and he found himself pulled into a group of gray Jedi. The path is hard. The line between the dark and light is all too easy to cross.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I combined two of my favorite fandoms!! Let's see how this all turns out.

Dazai stretched his arms, his fingers reaching for the high ceiling of the Jedi temple. He yawned loudly, much to the annoyance of a handful of other Jedi. It was a gorgeous morning. The sunlight struggled through the enormous windows. Dazai thought about what he’d want to do for that day. He could jump in the river, and try to become one with the Force again. He could irritate Kunikida because he felt that he hadn’t annoyed him enough while they were working together. There were a few more pressing matters he was supposed to attend to, but who really had time for that?

“Dazai!” 

_ Right on time.  _ He thought, looking out the window again. A hand grabbed him from behind and turned him around. “Good morning, Kunikida!” He said happily. “Lovely day, don’t you think?”

“Idiot!” Kunikida said angrily, dragging Dazai with him, out of the open. “What happened on your last mission?!”

The Jedi looked up as though he had to struggle to recall his last mission. “Ummm… Well, the ship crash landed when we got there. We took out all the droids, found the weapons they were planning on selling to the separatists, I took in a padawan, and there were nine casualties. That’s about it.”

Kunikida’s eye twitched. “Go back.”

“We took out all the droids, found the weapons--”

“The padawan! What do you mean you took in an apprentice?!”

Dazai shrugged, but kept that annoyingly bright smile on his face. “Well, it’s not totally official yet. I mean, I kind of just dropped him off at the detention block, and let him rest there for three days. And the council doesn’t know about him yet, he doesn’t know why I brought him back with me, and I may have forgotten to explain that he’s Force sensitive.” He paused as though to think about it. “I had to put him under pretty quickly, so he’s probably kind of disoriented.”

Kunikida looked like he wanted to kill Dazai. “You left him here  _ three days ago?!  _ When exactly were you planning on presenting him to the council?… Or planning on retrieving him from the detention block?”

“Huh…” Dazai muttered, looking troubled before smiling brightly again. “That was the thing I thought I had to do today, but forgot about!” He slapped Kunikida on the shoulder overenthusiastically. “Thanks for reminding me! I could have just kept on forgetting about the kid, and then he’d be in there a lot longer than three days.” He pulled his hands behind his back casually. “I was considering taking a dive off the temple roof today, but I guess that’ll have to wait.”

***  
Atsushi sat against the back wall of the cell, half heartedly trying to eat what he’d been given. Despite his constant hunger, he felt like he couldn’t eat. His stomach was in knots. He remembered some of what had happened to get him locked up., not much though.

Something had happened, something big. He remembered only a little bit after that. His body had felt cold as though ice water had replaced his blood. Then, there was just this rush of exhaustion. He’d felt himself fall, his head hit someone’s shoulder. 

_ “Sir,” someone said. “He’s wanted for the destruction of government property. They want us to leave him with the authorities.” _

_ “That sounds like a huge waste of potential. Why would I want that?” The Jedi replied. Atsushi felt himself being lifted off his feet. “I’m taking him with me.” _

That was all he could remember before he woke up in a cell. All things considered, it was a completely livable place. They’d given him food, good food, more than enough food. He had enough space to pace, and it wasn’t as though it was dark. He had enough light, he had a bed, he had all the things he needed. However, he couldn’t ignore the fear he felt when he saw the glow of the ray shield that kept him in the cell. 

What was going to happen? He had nothing and no one. They couldn’t hold him for ransom if that was their plan. Atsushi curled up a little tighter. How long had it been?

The ray shield wall deactivated, and a figure in a Jedi robe strode in. “Ah, Atsushi! Good to see you again! Sorry I didn’t come to get you earlier. I kind of forgot about you.” 

Atsushi jumped. Adrenaline pumping in his veins. The ray shield wall reactivated, his chance for escape vanished. He looked up at the Jedi who’d entered. “You’re the Jedi from earlier,” he managed.

“Glad to see you remember me,” the Jedi said, that carefree smile still on his face. “I understand that using the Force in such a way can leave you with empty spaces in your memory.”

“Wha--”

Dazai got closer to him, and Atsushi shrank back as though the Jedi was going to hit him. “Exactly how much do you remember?”

Atsushi swallowed hard. “Umm… You were in a river, I pulled you out, you bought me food, and then… Then…” He had a terrified, but empty look on his face. His skin seemed to go a few shades paler. “I don’t know… I can’t remember.”

Dazai released a patient sigh, and seated himself on the edge of Atsushi’s bed. He patted the space next to him. “Sit down,” he ordered gently. “This may be a lot for you to take in.”  

The boy hesitated, but slowly shuffled over to sit down beside Dazai. “To start, what do you know about the Force?”

The youngling shrugged. “It’s a Jedi power.” 

“Close, but not quite. It’s an energy field, made up of all the living things. It’s in all of us, not just limited to Jedi.” He offered a slight smile. “You see where I’m going with this, right?” Atsushi shook his head, but looked fascinated by Dazai’s explanation. “Okay, I’ll just say it. You have a great sensitivity to the Force.”

Atsushi blinked, backing away from Dazai. “Huh?”

“When you nearly got shot, you tapped into the Force.” He smirked at the shocked look on the boy’s face. “Yep, you’re like me. Like a lot of us here.” He put a hand on Atsushi’s shoulder blade, ignoring his nervous wince.

“That’s impossible,” Atsushi said shakily. “They said I was nothing.” Dazai began to say something to calm him down, but the youngling kept talking. “I can’t move things without touching them. I can’t get into people’s heads. I can’t do anything like that!” 

Dazai shook his head and tightened his grip on Atsushi’s shoulder. “You’ll be able to do all that after some training.”

The youngling looked up suddenly. “Training? What are you talking about?”

The Jedi turned away from him for a minute, seeming like he was talking more to himself than to the youngling. “You really should have been brought here when you were around three or four years old. Then you would have been trained for a while before a full fledged Jedi decided to take you as a padawan.” He paused, looking at a spot on the wall, feeling the child’s eyes on him. “You’ll have a lot of catching up to do. I mean, you’re still a youngling who has no control over his abilities.”

Atsushi jumped off the bed and retreated to the other side of the cell. “What are you implying?” His eyes were wide, and he seemed panicked to say the least. Dazai smiled pleasantly at him. “I  _ can’t  _ be a Jedi.” His voice weakened. “There’s no way,” he muttered. “I’m worthless. My own parents didn’t want me.” He played with the hem of his shirt nervously. 

“A Jedi is supposed to be selfless, Atsushi,” the Jedi said calmly. “You were starving and yet you jumped in a river for the sole purpose of rescuing me.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m in any way cut out to be a Jedi,” Atsushi quipped. “That was-- I didn’t even know what I was doing then. I was out of my mind from the hunger.”

“You trusted the Force.”

“I don’t even actually know what the Force  _ is! _ ”

“That’s okay,” Dazai said, waving a hand dismissively. “I don’t think anyone actually completely understands it.”

The youngling too a deep breath in. “People rely on Jedi. I--I couldn’t do that.”

This had gone on for long enough. Dazai rose from where he was perched and crossed the room to Atsushi. He grasped the boy’s shoulders firmly. “Calm down. No one’s forcing you into this.” He sighed. “Here’s the problem though, the dark side is feeding off your fear. It’s dangerous. You don’t know how to control it. It gets closer to swallowing you up every time you use it, even if it’s not intentional.”

“I don’t understa--”

“We know that you’ve used the dark side at least once before. It’s probably all very hazy to you, but that doesn’t make it any less real.” Atsushi’s eyes bore into him. “The more that happens, the bigger the target on your back is. And the Force issue aside, you don’t really have anywhere to go, assuming what you told me after pulling me out of the river was true.”

The youngling’s knees were knocking together. Dazai took a minute to guide him back to the bed so he could collapse on it. 

“The choice is yours, of course,” Dazai reminded. He looked completely serious now. “I can train you into a great Jedi.” His eyes darkened. “They told you that you’d never belong anywhere, didn’t they?” Atsushi flinched and seemed to curl in on himself at the mention. “I can sense it. The Jedi order is your place.” He looked at Atsushi’s hesitant eyes for a minute. “So, what do you choose?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bond is formed.

Atsushi’s hands were shaking horribly. It’d been thirty minutes since Dazai presented him before the council. After a handful of tests that made very little sense to him, he’d been told to wait outside the council room while they determined his fate. He was tempted to lean against the door and try to make out some of what they were saying, but he was too worried he’d get caught. Pissing off a Jedi could lead to dire consequences.

_ What’s going on in there? _ He thought, inching closer to the doors. A Jedi with unkempt brown hair passed by and glanced at him; Atsushi quickly averted his eyes to the ground and shifted away from the door. Heat rose to his face as he rubbed the back of his head guiltily. He wasn’t completely sure if he would get in trouble for eavesdropping on the Jedi… He still was less than willing to get caught red handed. 

_ What if they reject me?  _ He wondered as he wrung his hands nervously. Then an even scarier thought occurred to him.  _ What if they accept me?  _

If he was rejected, he could easily imagine getting tossed out of the Jedi temple, and left on a neutral planet with a handful of credits. He shuddered to think about all the terrible things that could happen once he wasn’t the Jedis’ problem.

Then there was the other possibility. If, by some twist of fate… or the Force-- If they brought him in, he’d be trained as a Jedi. On the outside, it seemed great. Under the surface, it wasn’t that straight forward. He could fail. He’d have to put himself in danger for others. He’d have to be selfless. And he had to ask himself if he could really do that. He wasn’t sure. What if he couldn’t reach those standards? How many people would he be failing? 

The door opened and Atsushi practically fell off his bench. Stearn eyes looked him over, making him want to curl into a ball. “You’re rather fidgety, aren’t you?” A man with a blond ponytail said. Atsushi said nothing, he just stared back, unable to figure out what to say. He sighed and straightened his Jedi robes before giving Atsushi another stern look. “Do  _ not  _ drag the reputation of the Jedi through the mud.”

Atsushi blinked, just beginning to open his mouth to respond. 

“Is that clear, youngling?”

The boy shut his mouth and nodded, though his mind was still a million miles away. He was being told not to drag the Jedi Order reputation through the mud… He wouldn’t have to be told that unless--

His logic was confirmed by a semi-familiar voice as more Jedi exited the council room.

“You ought to call him by what he is, Kunikida,” Dazai said in a mock scolding tone. “He’s a padawan now.”

Atsushi tensed when Dazai’s hand landed on his shoulder. The Jedi noticed...Not just Dazai, but anyone that happened to be passing by. 

“What’s going on?” Atsushi squeaked when Dazai clasped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him off the floor. 

The Jedi smiled brightly. “I’m so glad you’re asking, my young padawan!” He lowered his voice to a gentler tone when Atsushi started to hunch over as if he was trying to curl in on himself. “You passed. From this point on, I’ll be training you in the ways of the Jedi.”

Something seemed to claw inside of Atsushi’s stomach. He couldn't do this. He wasn’t ready. No, forget about being ready! He wasn’t  _ meant  _ to go down this path. The only reason he’d agreed to it was because he didn’t think he’d ever be accepted by the council. His mouth went dry as he opened it to protest. 

Dazai yawned and dropped a hand onto Atsushi’s head. It was as though he’d flipped a switch to shut off the boy’s oncoming panic attack. The youngling looked up at him, a perplexed expression etched into his features. “That’s the Force for you,” the Jedi remarked, smirking as he released Atsushi. He started walking away, fully expecting his new padawan to follow. “You have a natural sensitivity in it.” He glanced back at the youngling who followed closely behind him. “I don’t want to scare you -- Force knows fear is all too prominent in you -- but with midichlorian count like that…” He trailed off, which made the knot in Atsushi’s stomach grow. “There’s a lot of groups that would take advantage of that.” He stopped and turned to Atsushi so they were nearly face to face if the height difference was ignored. 

“How?” Atsushi asked, once again feeling waves of serenity wash over him, which were no doubt thanks to Dazai.

The Jedi shrugged. “Well, there’s the separatists. With how this war is going, they’d probably want another Force sensitive weapon. There’s the Sith, who have a less  _ optional  _ method of training than we do.” He paused. “There’s also slavers, I suppose, but they’d have less need for a child who can use the Force.”

Atsushi pressed his lips into a tight line. “Ummm… Master Jedi… I know you said you didn’t want to scare me, but…” 

“Right, sorry,” Dazai muttered. “Anyway, at the moment, it doesn’t look like you have anywhere to go.” He raised an eyebrow at the child. “What makes you so reluctant to join the Jedi?”

Atsushi winced when Dazai brought that up. His reluctance could be taken as blatant ungratefulness. He hadn’t been that obvious...Had he? “I’m not--” he began.

“Let us not forget that I’m a Jedi and can easily tell when you’re lying,” Dazai reminded in a sing song voice. He didn’t sound angry in the slightest, just smug and somewhat playful. His voice turned serious in a split second. “Just tell me the truth. Unless you say that your intentions were to attack the Jedi temple or infiltrate, I won’t lock you up or anything.”

He looked up at the Jedi with pained eyes. “I can’t do anything… I’m a burden to everyone around me.” Atsushi looked away. 

“The caretakers of the orphanage told you that, huh?” Dazai said tiredly. He heaved a long sigh. “Did it ever occur to you that they were wrong about you? That you’re wrong about yourself?”

Atsushi shook his head. The idea seemed to be too radical for him to fully process. 

Dazai leaned down to look him in the eye. “Have you ever thought about  _ proving  _ them wrong?”

The youngling looked at the floor and bit his lip as though he was bracing himself for a beating. “No… I’ve never considered that.”

Dazai  _ tsk _ ed. “What did I say about lying?” He calmly watched Atsushi flinch and carefully back away. The boy apologized profusely, hardly even capable of imagining the punishment for lying to a  _ Jedi _ of all people. “Calm down. Your difficulty with being honest with both me and yourself isn’t a big deal right now.” He put a hand on Atsushi’s shoulder. “The Force within you can build or destroy. Which do you want to do?”

Atsushi blinked, not understanding how someone as frail and useless as him could have the power to do anything. “I don’t think…” He trailed off, having no idea what to say next. He stiffened when he looked into Dazai’s eyes again. “I--I don’t want to destroy…” Atsushi decided in a soft voice. 

“Okay then,” Dazai said. He smirked. “So, in other words, you’re staying in the temple and training to be a Jedi.”

“Bu--” Atsushi bit his tongue before he could finish. Arguing would hardly do anything to change his situation. “Okay.”

Dazai smirked, probably very easily sensing his new padawan’s anxiety. “Don’t worry too much about it. You’re just exhausted.” The padawan blinked, still a bit out of it. “You used the Force as you probably never had before, you were probably really freaked out when you woke up in a cell, and this has all been a lot for you. I promise you’ll get some down time after we get some stuff done.”

Once he mentioned the exhaustion, Atsushi did feel his head get a bit heavier. The bed in the detention center hadn’t been the most comfortable and staying in there for three days without any explanation hadn’t helped. “What stuff?” He asked, resigning himself to his fate.

“Not too much. Just letting you get washed up, getting you some clothes, getting you in the system.” He shrugged. “You can make your lightsaber in a couple days.”

Atsushi seemed to freeze up a bit, but took a big breath in and kept walking. He fiddled with the hem of his ragged shirt. “Why did they accept me?” He muttered, asking the question that had gnawed at him since Dazai had called him his padawan.

“If it makes you feel any better, there was some debate over bringing you in.”

_ How is that supposed to make me feel better? _ Atsushi asked mentally.

“Yeah, that probably wasn’t the best comment to make you feel better,” Dazai said, sensing Atsushi’s train of thought. “It wasn’t solely based on your Force potential. A good portion of the decision relied on your character.” He paused. “Really the main reason for the whole debate was because you’re older than most younglings are when they start training.”

“What was the other reason?” Atsushi asked. 

Dazai shrugged. “Something about the fear in you and danger of the Dark side taking over.” Atsushi’s stomach twisted at that explanation. “But,” he continued in a carefree voice. “Just because they say the training will be difficult doesn’t mean it’ll be impossible. After all, Skywalker seemed to turn out great, and he wasn’t originally from the Jedi temple.”

The name meant nothing to Atsushi. If he’d heard about Skywalker, it would have been in some piece of drifting gossip. He guessed that Dazai brought him up so the youngling would feel a bit more hope in his situation. 

…

“This is the library?!” Atsushi hissed when Dazai finally got around to bringing him to the temple library to put his name and face in the Jedi archives. The strange feeling of his new clothes was soon forgotten when he gaped at all the holobooks and datapads that surrounded them. 

“What did you think I meant when I told you we’d go to the temple library?” He gestured to the huge expanse of shelves and knowledge before them. “This is a library.”

“It’s enormous…” Atsushi murmured, still struggling to imagine how many stories and records and pieces of wisdom the whole place could contain. He’d always loved reading, but could never get his hands on new content. The orphanage library was small. The amount of books he could find on the streets was even smaller.

Dazai chuckled, before taking Atsushi’s arm and guiding him away. “I’m glad I got a padawan who actually appreciates the Jedi archives, but we still need to get your name in them and everything.” 

Atsushi nodded, feeling the thrill of the sheer size of the library remain in the back of his mind. He nervously tugged on his padawan braid that Dazai had painstakingly helped him weave into the part of his hair that was long enough to do anything with.  _ Had he told me the Jedi had this sort of library, I probably would have said “yes” faster... _

Dazai smirked, obviously knowing what Atsushi had thought. The boy smiled shyly, his face taking on a pinkish shade. It was a bit embarrassing that Dazai could read him so easily. “Let’s go, Atsushi. Once we get you registered into the system, you can roam the library if you still have the energy.” He shrugged. “Either way, there’s a handful of archives you ought to read.”

“Right,” Atsushi muttered, starting to feel overwhelmed all over again. 

“Not to worry,” Dazai said. “I wouldn’t have brought you back with me if I didn’t think you could handle it.”

…

“Da--” Atsushi stopped himself, losing his nerve to ask a question. He turned back down to the datapad before him.

“I know when a question’s on your mind.” He said casually. Dazai leaned over to see what his apprentice was reading. “Go ahead and ask.”

“What are gray Jedi?” He paused, pressing his lips together while he contemplated the other question on his mind. “How do I actually use the Force?”

His master stretched his arms out boredly. “Well, for starters, you have the light side and the dark side.” He used his hands to emphasise his point. “Jedi fall in the light, Sith fall in the dark. Gray Jedi, such as myself and a handful of others,” he said, bringing his hands together with a  _ clap _ . “Fall in between those two sides.”

Atsushi puzzled over that for a moment. “Does that mean I’ll end up being a gray Jedi since your teaching me?”

“Not necessarily, Atsushi.” He paused for a little bit. “Granted, I may be a relatively large influence on what you choose, but ultimately the path is yours.” He smirked, clearly sensing Atsushi’s pleased feeling at having his own choice, though he still felt just a bit like he’d wound up under the Jedi’s wing because he had nowhere else to go. “Give this place some time, you’ll get used to it.”

“That’s another thing,” Atsushi began, getting a bit bolder. “How can you tell what I’m thinking? Why can’t I tell anything of what you’re thinking?”

Dazai breathed a laugh. “I’ve been well acquainted with the Force for a good number of years. I know how to cloak my emotions and Force signature.” He casually lifted the datapad from Atsushi’s hands with the Force, drawing a surprised gasp from Atsushi. “You’re an open book.”

The comment made Atsushi redden and curl in on himself a bit. “Sorry,” he murmured.

“It’s not a bad thing. You’ll have to learn to be a bit more guarded at times, but none of that is your fault.” He smiled. “Patience is key.” He gestured to Atsushi’s quarters. “Get to bed. You’ve had a long day, and the real training begins tomorrow.”

Atsushi nodded, pausing halfway to his room. “Will we always be in the dorms? Like living here?” He stopped, realizing how confused his question sounded. “Will we be living here?”

Dazai hummed in response. “Not quite. Just while we’re in the temple.” He paused, looking into space for a minute. “The Jedi lifestyle is by no means a stable one, but overall it’s… good."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some training. =D   
> And one other thing at the end to push the plot forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> Well, the holidays are coming up, and with the holidays comes finals week!! I'm like 68% that I'm going to be sick by the time this week is over because of how much cortisol my body is probably producing. (I took my Physiology exam today. I'm still in that zone.)
> 
> So, now I have a theology paper and mission statement left to do. (I really don't want to do either.) Anyway, I'm just going to call this a fanfiction for luck. Here you go!

Atsushi hadn’t expected training to be easy in the slightest.

But he hadn’t imagined that it would be so hard.

He squinted at the sphere, willing it to float.  _ Move.  _ He commanded mentally. The ball didn’t respond. Atsushi took a deep breath and focused on the Force, an action that he was only semi-familiar with. 

Dazai sat behind him, lazily reading something he’d picked up from the Jedi archives. He could sense him there since Dazai had been kind enough to let his Force signature free, but Atsushi couldn’t pick up any sort of emotion from him. It was… unsettling to some extent. He couldn’t-- for the life of him-- pick up any signs of whether or not Dazai was pleased with the small amount of progress he’d made or irritated with it.

Atsushi couldn’t even look at his master. How much disappointment would he see in Dazai’s eyes if he turned around?

“I’m not disappointed with you, Atsushi,” Dazai muttered. Atsushi winced at his voice. “Using the Force in a way that’s not purely out of instinct is usually hard for a little while.” Atsushi heard a long, slow exhale. “Atsushi, look at me.” The Jedi’s voice left no room for argument. Atsushi slowly looked over his shoulder. “You’ve been at it for a day and a half. I’m not expecting you to master your ability overnight. That’s not the way it works.”

“How long will it take?” He asked tiredly. 

“I wouldn’t know,” Dazai responded. “You’re just a bit late to the game. Most younglings learn when they’re around five or six years old.”

“Well, that’s encouraging,” Atsushi said sarcastically under his breath.

“What was that?” Dazai asked, looking back at him.

The padawan stiffened, silently reprimanding himself for being sardonic. “Uh… N-nothing.”

He had his mentor’s full attention now, and it made his muscles go tense. 

Dazai put down his holobook and shifted so he was sitting up straight. “Listen,” he began, his brown--almost red--eyes staring down at his apprentice. “It’s time we get a few things straight.” Atsushi’s muscles twitched, like they were urging him to run, like they expected to get bruised from an oncoming strike. “It’s alright to get frustrated, that’s natural.”

“Huh?”

“If being a Jedi was easy, we’d have a lot more Jedi.” Dazai tilted his head at him. “It can be healthy to be tough on yourself, but you take it to an extreme level.” He extended his hand slowly, calming Atsushi with the Force as he ruffled his hair. “I’m not going to hurt you and say it was a disciplinary action. Jedi don’t roll that way.” He pushed himself off the couch and grabbed Atsushi’s wrist, ignoring when the youngling flinched with surprise. Dazai pushed his apprentice’s hand up until it was level with the sphere. “Feel,” he instructed, watching Atsushi close his eyes. “Don’t think.”

Atsushi’s brows furrowed, and Dazai tightened his grip, though not to any point of pain. “You’re thinking about it too much.” He took a deep breath in and instructed Atsushi to do the same. “Try again.”

Slowly, the metal ball rose from its place on the table, hovering the table’s surface. Atsushi knew it. He couldn’t see it, but he just  _ knew.  _ His eyes remained shut so he could focus on using the Force.

“Now pull it into your hand.”

Atsushi’s brows furrowed again and he let his fingers stretch out a little further. His master is silent beside him, his fingers wrapped around Atsushi’s wrist. And now, Atsushi could sense him, the feel of his Force signature, the pattern of his breath. He could sense  _ everything. _ He could count how many people were in the temple. He could feel calm Force signatures of the Jedi masters and the excited Force signatures of younglings in class. And he could feel the smooth, cool metal of the sphere as though it was in his hand 

Slowly, carefully he beckoned it towards closer to his outstretched fingers. And even more slowly, it approached him, brushing against his fingertips and finding its place against his palm.

He opened his eyes as he curled his fingers around it. He couldn’t fight off the pride warming his chest, and it almost didn’t surprise him when Dazai hooked an arm around his shoulders and messed up his hair. 

“You’re getting it so quickly,” Dazai praised as he let go of his student. “What did you feel when you used the Force, Atsushi?” 

Atsushi blinked, feeling like the amount of praise his master gave him was a little excessive for just pulling a small sphere into his hand. He accepted it all the same, too unused to positive feedback to be in a position to deny it.

“Uhh…” He began, furrowing his brow as he tried to figure it out. “Like… Like I could feel everything?” 

It came out like a question. Uncertain. Even more uncertain than he’d wanted it to be. 

Dazai lost his grin, but he wasn’t quite frowning at Atsushi. It was a serious look, a more adult expression that didn’t seem to quite suit Dazai’s face. “I’m the one asking you. Say it with confidence.”

“I-It felt like I could feel everything.” Atsushi remarked, narrowing his eyes with determination. A raised eyebrow prompted him further. “Like I was apart of everything. I don’t know. It was… really incredible.”

His master finally smiled again, and Atsushi felt like he’d given a right answer. “You’re taking your first steps, my young padawan. It won’t be long until you improve further and spar with the other padawans or join me on missions.”

The idea of Atsushi going on missions made his stomach flip unpleasantly.

“It won’t be so scary once you get out there,” Dazai soothed, sensing Atsushi’s thoughts. “You learn how to use the Force and do what’s right in battle. You do things that help the galaxy.”

Atsushi nodded. 

Dazai smirked at him. “Come on now,” he said with some hint of a laugh in his voice. “Don’t make me go into your head to get you to talk to me. What’s bothering you?”

The apprentice flinched, once again apologizing profusely. Dazai only chuckled in response, patting Atsushi’s shoulder and saying something about how nervous he was. Atsushi hid his flushed face in his hands for a moment, and Dazai’s voice turned serious again. “There’s no reason for you to be scared of anything, you know.”

Atsushi ran a hand through his hair tiredly. “I just-- I feel like I’m so behind and I have so much to catch up on.” The words tumbled out against his will now. “I levitated a ball that didn’t weigh more than a mouse droid. I-I’m just so slow at this. Several five year olds are better at using the Force than I am for crying out loud!”

Waves of calm that he’d grown very familiar with quieted the storm in his mind. He heard Dazai sigh. 

“One thing at a time, Atsushi,” he said calmly with his normal smile. “The Jedi order wasn’t built in a day. Neither are Jedi.” He rose from his seat and gestured for Atsushi to follow him. “Besides,” he concluded brightly. “Patience is the Jedi way.”

/-/-/

Akutagawa scrolled through the list of jobs that he was overqualified for. It was a lengthy list, and the bounty hunter felt like he was up for a challenge. 

He’d no qualms of killing for assassination missions, took no issue in getting tangled into political affairs, and, like most of the bounty hunters in the Port Mafia, he did not mind getting into fights with Jedi. He’d long ago gotten used to the gritty feeling of blood on his hands, and had gotten used to the sound of screams. 

The long list of jobs felt rather insulting as he kept reading into it. Most of the jobs were to apprehend some second rate criminal or to steal something of value. All too easy. He needed a challenge. The stiffness in his joints was becoming all too obvious to him, and it was irritating.

“Sir,” a voice called as a blond haired bounty hunter came through his door. 

Any normal person would probably tell her to knock before entering, but it didn’t matter to him, he’d sensed her before she’d been within a fifteen feet of his doorway.

“What is it, Higuchi?” He sighed, pausing to cough hard into his hand. “I’m busy.”

“I know, and I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion, Akutagawa,” she replied bowing her head to him respectfully. “But I found a job offer I thought you’d like to take.” She then held up the holodisk so he could see the ad. 

_ Bounty:  _

_ Seven billion credits for the capture and delivery of a Jedi padawan _

 

_ That  _ got Akutagawa’s attention. He skimmed the words with his eyes at first, before reading over them more carefully. The rest of the hologram stated various things the client wanted. It was surprisingly specific. It wasn’t just a youngling said client was after, they wanted someone capable with the Force and lightsaber.

What the client wanted with a Jedi in training, Akutagawa didn’t know, nor did he care. It was a job. It was a challenge he could beat. If he wasn’t so focused on piecing together a plan in his head, he’d have smiled.

“Tell the boss I’m taking this job,” he ordered Higuchi.

“I already did, Sir.”

He responded with some form of approval, though he didn’t like that his subordinate had acted without order, and that she knew him so well. However, he couldn’t pay that anymore thought now. He had a job to do, and by Force, he’d do it right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we've met Akutagawa!
> 
> I questioned earlier about how much praise and attention Dazai is giving Atsushi and how the Jedi order forbids attachment, but he's a gray Jedi and they kind of do whatever they want. Kunikida is likely going to give him an earful for it later. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> May the Force be with you! (Also, happy holidays)

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment! =D


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